What’s happening at the end of South Avenue in Poughkeepsie?

A significant development is underway in the South Avenue area of Poughkeepsie, as plans for a new luxury mid-rise residential building have gained approval from the planning board. 

The building will be between the small Oak Street neighborhood and the Poughkeepsie Imported Car Parts store, in front of the LaBella Associates office building. The development will be visible from both South Avenue and Route 9 and have views of the Hudson River from the top floor and rooftop patio.

With site planning approval secured, motorists traveling along South Avenue may have observed trees being cleared on the 2.76-acre lot, signaling the beginning stages of construction for the upcoming project. 

First approved by the planning board in July and subsequently with changes in December 2023, the development will consist of an 87-unit, five-story mid-rise building featuring all one-bedroom apartments. The project includes underground and surface-level parking for 105 parking spaces. The parcel falls within the R-D (Research and Development) zoning district, where residential development up to five stories is permitted. 

The approved building design includes amenities such as a rooftop patio and assembly space, a fitness center, and additional amenity spaces on each floor. The building has main entrances on South Avenue and a courtyard adjacent to the parking lot in the rear. 

Luxury housing builder ARGO Development of Montvale, NJ, is developing the project. When this project was first proposed to the planning board in December 2022, Michael Abuladze, CEO of ARGO, told the Poughkeepsie Planning Board, “We do development from New York City all the way up to upstate New York. We recently completed a 34-unit apartment building in Monroe, New York. We’ve done multiple projects in New Jersey, Bergen County, and we are looking to expand ourselves in the Poughkeepsie area.” 

The ARGO Development website lists several single-family residential luxury developments throughout the NYC Metropolitan area. This project would appear to be the first mid-rise development for the company’s portfolio.

Since its initial approval over the summer, the project has undergone several iterations, which required reconsideration by the planning board in the fall. The changes centered around an expanded rooftop patio and design changes to the roofline, including a larger bulkhead to house bathrooms for the patio space. 

Construction feasibility issues drove additional changes. They included an extra window for fresh air in the fitness room, the style of the South Avenue entrance, the manufacturer of the fiber-cement siding panels, moving two underground parking spaces outside, and altering the driveway to accommodate an existing utility pole. 

Following the approval of project changes at the December board meeting, Planning Board members expressed excitement for the project to begin. Two members said, “We look forward to this starting,” and “This is going to be a nice project.”